The 94th running of the Tour de France bicycle raised comes to a close this Sunday in Paris, after three weeks and more than 3600 kilometers of blistering sun, leg-breaking mountains and intense competition.
The final 146-km stage, into and around Paris, snakes through small towns and past ancient cathedrals at a rather more leisurely pace. Most riders know about where they will place, and the team title is firmly in the hands of Team Discovery.
Barring accident or multiple mechanical failures, Team Discovery's Alberto Contador is guaranteed to win the Tour, having a comfortable 23-second lead. Team Lotto-Predictor rider Cadel Evans holds second place by eight seconds over Levi Leipheimer, also of Team Discovery.
Doping Scandals Again Mar Tour
Many people looked to this year's tour to redeem the reputation of this nearly century-old event. After last year's winner Floyd Landis was found to have abnormally high levels of testosterone, the legitimacy of the Tour was thrown into question. (Landis's case is still under appeal.)
This year's tour was again marred by doping scandals, as favorites Alexandre Vinikourov and Cristian Moreni, and then Tour leader Michael Rassmussen, were kicked out of the race. Rassmussen did not tested positive for any banned substances, but refused to take many of the regularly scheduled blood tests to which riders are required to submit. Rassmussen lied about his whereabouts, saying he was with his wife in Mexico, but a reporter saw him training I the Pyrenees. It is suspected that he may hae trained using illegal drugs at high altitudes to increase his blood oxygen, then returned after his blood was clean.
Regardless of whether he tested positive, his team, Rabobank, fired him. Teams, in order to protect the reputation, popularity and profitability of the Tour, have decided not to toleraste even the appearance of impropriety. Team Astana, Vinokourov's squad, and Moreni's Team Cofidis, both withdrew from the tour after learning that their lead riders were suspected of using banned performance-enhancing substances.
Vinikourov denies taking any performance-enhancing chemicals. He has been accused of having his blood replaced with the blood of another person before a test. "I have always raced clean", Vinoukorov said in a prepared statement released by his lawyer. Vinokourov's B-sample also tested positive, however.
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